Page 37

Marc groans. “Um, no. Actually, it’s going to be us again. Apparently, there haven’t been enough new members, so we have to do it.”

“Huh,” I say. “That’s not true.”

“What do you mean?” Bernardo asks.

“I was told that no one’s supposed to be down here tomorrow.” I give them a shrug. “They’re supposed to be moving some furniture, so older members will take over. Someone should’ve passed that on to you two by now.”

“No one told us anything,” Bernardo says.

“They never do. It happened to me twice, and both times I showed up and found out afterward that the whole thing had been called off.” I huff out a laugh. “The second time, my partner didn’t come at all, and I spent hours thinking he’d gotten kicked out or something.”

“Wait, are you sure?” Marc asks with excitement in his voice.

“Yeah,” I say.

“Oh, thank you.” He sighs. “I’ve got an exam this week and I was going to have to study down here.”

“Shouldn’t we check with someone first? Like, ask?” Bernardo says.

“Sure.” I tilt my head toward the far end of the tunnel, toward where Supreme’s office is. “Go knock on Supreme’s door and ask him to say it again for you. I’m sure he’ll love repeating himself.”

“No. Yeah, no,” Bernardo blurts out.

“It’s fine.” I hold up a hand. “If anyone asks about it later, say an older member passed it on, and I’ll deal with them. It’s on me, not on you.”

“Okay.” He blows out a breath. “Cool, man.”

“Hey, can I ask you something? How long does it take before they give you actual things to do? Like real stuff, not this,” Marc asks.

“It depends on you,” I say. “Do the boring jobs, don’t complain about them, and don’t ask questions in front of the others. They notice all of it. It took me almost a year before anything changed.”

“A year?” Bernardo’s shoulders slump.

“It goes faster than you’d think.” I clap Marc on the shoulder on my way out. “Enjoy your time off.”

If my plan works, and there’s no reason that it shouldn’t, this entrance will be free. No guards and no cameras. It’ll be perfect. Now I just have to tell Veronica, because I can’t get caught alone in there. And hopefully, we won’t get caught at all.

Chapter 26

VERONICA

THE COPY OF THE MAP I found at the library covers most of my desk, and I’ve been staring at it for so long that my eyes sting. It’s actually a drawing with tiny numbers along the edges, and a lot of the labels are in some shorthand that meant something to whoever put it there decades ago, but I think it all fits. The tunnels are basically everywhere under Blackerville.

And it looks like one of them leads right to the history department and another to the soccer field. I spent so many hours convincing myself that Jayden couldn’t cover that distance, swap my file, and get back without most of campus noticing. And I was right about the distance, except I was only thinking about the part of campus that I could see.

If he went down at one end and came up at the other, no one would’ve seen him running. But it would explain me seeing him coming out of the lecture hall with his hood up. I talked myself out of it later because the distance made it impossible, but now...

I tap my pencil against the desk as my stomach churns. The only way he could get access to the tunnels... if he was already a member and everything else was a lie. The story about his roommate, the whole we’re-in-this-together thing, and being the only person on campus who still talks to me...

I want to throw up, because every moment we shared would turn out to be a cruel trick. I hope I’m wrong about all of it, because if it’s true, then I’m the biggest idiot at Blackerville.

But he couldn’t have faked the desire and all the nice moments... No, I don’t want to believe that. My phone buzzes on the corner of the desk, and it’s Jayden.

We can go tonight to the tunnels. I found an entrance no one uses.

I bite down on my lip. Should I go anywhere with him? Should I confront him? But even if he’s a member or if he isn’t, confronting him would hurt me. If I accuse him and it’s not true, he’ll never talk to me again and I’ll lose the only partner in this that I have. And if he’s guilty, who knows what the society will do?

I need to play this smart.